Wenger will see out contract

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has pledged not to leave the club as he still has three more years left on his contract.

Wenger has in the past claimed that a role with Paris Saint-Germain may be one day possible. However, he has currently moved to play down fears that the club will have to deal with his exit as well.

“I have three years to go with Arsenal and I always respect my contract. It looks like PSG are coming in at a time when Marseille are a little less strong,” he told reporters.

“Lyon have dominated French football for the last 10 years. Marseille won two years ago and Lille last year but before that it was all Lyon. It looks like PSG are coming in at the right time.”

Wenger faces a difficult task in Arsenal's next Champions League match against Marseille. During his time as manager of Monaco, Marseille were embroiled in a bribery scandal that led to them being relegated and stripped of their league title.

However, Wenger claims that football in France is not as it was earlier.

“That is over now, because the owners are not the same. Now it is completely different. Football has changed in France," said Wenger.

“I’m happy to go to back to Marseille, because it has memories of passionate games. Of course, since I was there, times have changed.

“It’s good. I love Marseille as a city. It is a real football city. I’m happy to go back there.

"I don’t think there is any need any more to speak about this period because it was not the happiest period of French football. It was an interesting experience in my life.

"At the end of the day, it is that. It makes you stronger or you get out of the job. It is as simple as that.”

Wenger also spoke about the condition of centre back Thomas Vermaelen, denying claims that he is injury prone.

"There's no medical reason why he should not play 50 games on the trot now. I always was a bit suspicious - why should that happen only on one side? I thought at some stage the other side will come as well, and it did.

"This [contract] shows how much we trust him. We think it's a genetic accident what he had, because he had it on both sides, exactly the same injury.

"It is a little tendon called plantaris that pushes on you, but only 25 per cent of the population has [it]... that pushes on your Achilles tendon.

"The only difference is that for the first injury, it took us a while to find the real source. The injury has only been discovered 18 months ago."